Rainwater harvesting is need of the hour.

There must be some law to plant trees in every house and premises, road sides, lakes bunds. The time must come to Govt. should take steps to fine penalty for those who are not planting trees.

# 3

1.8.16

Absolutely right Sir. Life on the entire planet sustains only due to greens & so, have as much of green as is possible; at every possible, thinkable place.

Points raised above need special attention:

1. Trees in every house: Rules in some cities in India itself: Every site (plot) need have 5 feet of lung space on right side, 3 feet on left side, X feet on the rear & Y feet (Not sure) in the front. This is to ensure that people plant shrubs, vegetables/fruit trees etc greenery in those places, nurture them, live a healthy life & help the environment too. - THE ISSUE IS THESE STEPS ARE NOT TAKEN UNIFORMLY ACROSS & THERE IS FAR TOO MANY REAL ESTATE, CONCRETE BUSINESSES.

2. Trees along roads: School text books say that the first national highway, the GT Road was planned in this way & that facilitated the trade & commerce to a great extent & the great India & the hard working Indians got the top most position, wealth, luxury, peace of mind, happiness in the entire globe.

3. Trees along bunds: Until few years ago, every square area had temples, lakes & greenery, birds, creatures that give so much of pure love, happiness sustained because of the lakes, plants. – It is worth emphasizing that mankind today is searching for water, unicellular creatures (not even algae) on planet Mars.

4. Fine for not planting trees: EXCELLENT POLICY. HOW MANY TAKERS? WHAT ARE THE ACTION POINTS? WHAT IS BEING COMMITTED BY WHOM?

# 4

2.8.16

The above would usher in quiet a bit of freshness. But that is not the entirety. There is natural relation between plants, creatures & abiotic components & until that sustains, it will become impossible to sustain planet earth for lifeforms. Earth will die & become something like Mars (The planet is there. But where is water, environment to sustain life, life?). Thus, it is imperative to protect nature in its wholesome & plants need be the central focus. Real trouble is with mankind's greed, shortsight. Real estate etc are occupying / targeting every part. Thus, all the natural habitats, at all the nooks & corners (even in Himalayas, the central ridges, coastal borders, deep inside the sea .... everywhere, everywhere) are dying off & are becoming this or that concrete. If every inch, every region turns to some brick & mortar, fenced off & security put in place; then where is the lung space for the creatures (life)?

When that is the actuality, one need ponder whether it is right for Gvts, newspapers etc terming the creatures etc as 'Avaara (Stray, Orphan)', when it is actually their place that has got eaten up? Similarly, terming the sacred drops of rain as 'Drainage' is also offending. The need of the hour is TO ACT UPON careless / carefully planned wrong photographs, terminologies etc in media (newspaper etc...) that speak ill of the honorable, pure creatures; sacred water etc natural components (anything, anything, even the most idiotic appearing natural wealth). In this context, it is pertinent to note that a newsdaily has used the word 'GURUjam' to report that traffic got jammed in Gurgaon Regions due to GOOD rains. But, it does not say to the people that these regions in the Gurugaon were hitherto great lakes & enabled India be amongst the World's topmost 'Biological hotspot', but has now got eaten up & become roads, brick & mortar this & that. The Gvts, mankind per se SHOULD BE COMPELLED TO FORMULATE ONLY SUCH POLICIES THAT GIVES ALL ANIMATES & INANIMATES ITS DUES (SPACE, FOOD, RESPECT, REPRESENTATION, RIGHT TO LIVE HONORABLY ETC ETC WITHOUT ANY IMPEDIMENTS, ENCROACHMENTS.

# 5

2.8.16

A news item substantiates what has been said above: 

Gurgaon is doomed: How not to plan and build a city

·         Shivani Singh, Hindustan Times; Aug 01, 2016

6TH para

... Today, Gurgaon boasts of the country’s most expensive gated communities. But outside the high walls, there is no civic infrastructure and little public facilities.

9TH to 11TH para

Ironically, for a city so susceptible to water-logging, Gurgaon has almost no water left to drink. A decade ago, it was declared a “dark zone” by the Central Groundwater Authority, which warned that if people did not stop extracting water, Gurgaon would have none left by 2017.

Cut to 2012. The Punjab and Haryana high court observed that the Millennium City was still extracting three times more water than what it naturally replenished and barred the government from issuing fresh licences for construction unless a developer gave an undertaking that no groundwater would be used for construction work.

Meanwhile, Gurgaon is already living on borrowed water. The NCR canal brings the Yamuna water as and when required. On paper, there is compliance of the high court order. But water continues to be extracted through ‘registered’ bore wells which feed most gated communities in Gurgaon. Never mind the sinking aquifers, the lawns, swimming pools, golf courses never run dry.

# 6

3.8.16

Aug 03 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi)

Flyovers fail harvesting test 

Neha Lalchandani

Despite HC Order In 2007, Rainwater Projects Along Roads A Non-Starter

The monsoon mayhem that has been crippling Delhi for the past many years would have been long gone had civic agencies carried out rainwater harvesting along roads and flyovers following a 2007 high court order. …

….. While the system on new structures is still alright, that on old flyovers is often faulty or not properly maintained,“ he said.“For instance, …. found that the pits were clogged with garbage. ….

… According to an NGT order of August 2015, no flyover or bridge can be approved without RWH. PWD officials claim that all its new flyovers and elevated roads have built-in RWH system and they are, in fact, using a new technique to improve collection of water. “We have carried out RWH on our new elevated road from Meera Bagh to Vikaspuri. For the first time, we have received no complaints of waterlogging on the Azadpur flyover. We are also using a new material and a better filter system, which can collect about 95% of the runoff,“ said an official.

… While DMRC says that it is the responsibility of road owning agencies to provide for drainage of this water, an official from PWD claims their drains were made several years ago and do not have the capacity to deal with the additional water flow.“ DMRC cannot pump such quantities of water onto roads and expect others to clean up after them,“ said an official.

Meanwhile, of the three municipal corporations that own a majority of roads in the city, east and north civic bodies have not made any provision for RWH on their roads. Some work has been done by the South Corporation with officials claiming that a majority of the 104 wards under it have carried out small-scale RWH at 3-5 sites each. However, most of these RWH pits are next to drains where water level may already be high enough for the system to be ineffective.

# 7

3 Aug 2016; Hindustan Times Delhi

NO WATER DROVE ALASKA MAMMOTHS TO EXTINCTION

One of the last surviving woolly mammoths populations was likely driven to extinction by lack of drinking water. Mammoths lived on Alaska’s St Paul Island until 5,600 years ago. US researchers have found proof that the mammoths’ demise coincided with declining freshwater resources and drier climate.

# 8

4.8.16

India need sustain the God's bounties, lest it will cause a holocaust.

Thus, it will be in India's interest to come up with a strong law on RWH.

.

Desirable aspects that could be included are:

1. Prohibit photographs, terminologies (Gurujam ...), jokes & all such man made things that speak / project nature & its biotic & abiotic components (Animals, Birds etc etc) in wrong light & create a disrespect to them in public.

2. Prescribe an upper cap on resources utilisation, water & fuel in specific.

3. Strictly prevent acquisition, pollution of: Water bodies, forests, mountains etc whatever it be & help evolve practically possible, self sustainable, comfortable alternatives to brick & mortar lifestyle.

4. Prevent exploitation of nature & its biotic & abiotic components in the name of utilisation.

5. Promote nature centric education, commerce, lifestyle, value system per se.